New sconces!

Add a bright rug in front of the door.

@simplynatural Thank you for your feedback. You have some good suggestions. Here is a better photo of our bland house.

We are just coming out of a Canadian winter, so we haven't cleaned up the gardens yet. They are beautiful when everything pops up in the spring. The two green tents are sheltering a small boxwood and a small hydrangea on either side of the door.

I love simplynatural’s sketchup.

Don’t paint the foundation as that always looks cheap to me. Plus it usually starts peeling quickly, especially if there are dampness issues (you already said there are).

Looks like there are multiple utility boxes/wiring on the side of the house. Can that be tidied up? Paint the boxes and/or wiring the same color as the siding?

Thank you for the additional photos (much easier to see the overall picture), and your beds are beautiful in the spring! Do visitors approach from the right, down the stairs? Is the paved area beyond (left of) the door used as a patio, for seating? I don't see that paving extending to what I assume is the street.

@simplynatural you are correct. Visitors approach from the driveway, which is to the right, at the top of the stairs. And the paved area extends almost to the road, in a triangle shape. It's a bit of a weird space. Our neighbourhood is not one that you could safely leave patio furniture on the front yard so we've never been sure of what to do with that area.

A few ideas, maybe?

As others have said, leave the cement alone for several reasons. I do not like the timber retaining walls next to the front door. They look very casual and unfinished right now and close in the door area. Otherwise tidy up the beds fill them with spring annuals when the time comes and some dark mulch and I think you’re good to go. I do love the rendering above with the little roof added over the door. If that’s something you could put in your budget. You can buy those premade off of The Internet.

Don't paint the foundation. Looks fine as is. Get a new screen door. Add a wide planter with a tall shrub on the far left side of the house to the left of the basement window, sitting on the gravel area. That is the most open area of foundation and could use a bit of distraction.

Buy or borrow and inexpensive patio bench and chairs and stage the patio area for pictures, even though you don't use it that way. Someone else could. (I've lived in patio furniture theft areas and there are ways to do it.)

Leave the foundation alone. Pressure wash the walkway once it warms up. Add a layer of good mulch (not bark) or garden "topper" after raking up the leaves. The spring blooming beds will benefit from it and it makes the dormant beds look well cared for.

Maybe a handrail for the stairs, just for safety?

" ...after raking up the leaves."

Why? Leaves are an excellent mulch and are valuable to the soil. If you feel you simply have to use bought mulch, put it on top of the leaves.

Ah, geographical differences. I assumed that raked up leaves would go in a compost pile. In my desert, high fire risk area, dry leaves have to be hand watered in a pile to produce compost. Otherwise, they just blow around, form drifts, and are a fire hazard.

OP is in Canada. I imagine that fallen leaves don't stay dry long.